Undead Love
by SupernaturalFanatic19
Summary: After a tragic event that left Shell quiet, the 19-year old moves with her family to Sleepy Hollow, New York. There, she learns of the legend of the Headless Horseman. But when she starts hearing ghostly hoof beats at night and being followed in the Western Woods, is it a hoax or has the legend of the Hessian Horseman always been alive? HessianxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Undead Love**

**Summary: **After a tragic event that left Shell quiet, the 19-year old moves with her family to Sleepy Hollow, New York. There, she learns of the legend of the Headless Horseman. But when she starts hearing ghostly hoof beats at night and being followed in the Western Woods, is it a hoax or has the legend of the Hessian Horseman always been alive? HessianxOC

_**Chapter 1**_

It was a cold, but not severely cold day in January of the new year. There was still snow on the ground, having snowed at least twice a week, if not more.

My family and I were currently sitting in the van while my dad drove down the almost abandoned road that lead to our new home, Sleepy Hollow. Why are we driving to a small town in New York when we formerly lived in Indiana?

Well….I don't wanna say much, but let's just say I got in some trouble that put someone in prison and required us to move.

It was my fault also. I blamed everything on myself.

My parents kept saying it wasn't my fault while my sister blamed everything on me….us moving, Mia losing all of her friends. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes and I sniffled quietly, wiping them away roughly. It was a good thing I sat in the very back of the van so Mia wouldn't yell at me for crying…

I glanced down at my MP3 player and pressed the down button for a new song and I choose Jillian by Within Temptation. Very good song.

I ended up falling asleep on the way there for a couple hours and then was rudely woken up when Mia threw her book at my face. "Hey loser, we're here."

I glared at her and threw her book back at her, which she easily dodged and it hit the back of the driver's seat. She muttered underneath her breath and fixed her ponytail before grabbing her things and getting out of the van.

I sighed softly and rubbed my face where the book had hit me. I grabbed what I had in the van and then stepped out, the cold breeze blowing through my long bright red hair. I winced a bit when the cold wind bit into the bare skin of my face, blinking a bit as my long bangs fell back into place.

"Oh, this place is beautiful!" Mom exclaimed as she and dad looked up at the house. I glanced up also. It looked old, yet beautiful. A two story wooden house with a balcony in one room. I wanted that room.

I was in the house before anyone could say anything and was in there before Mia could get there. I set my bag down and looked around. It was a semi-big room with glass doors that led out to a small balcony.

"Hey, I eyed this bedroom first!" Mia growled when she walked into the room.

"Too bad." I muttered and to my total shock, I got a back-handed slap to the face. It was so strong it sent me flying to the ground and I felt my eyes blur with tears as I held a hand to my throbbing face. My sister….my YOUNGER sister…could beat the crap out of me. We were apart only by a year and a half…

And yet I didn't understand why she hated me so much. I knew she was pissed at me from the whole ordeal, but we never got along, even as kids. We were polar opposites; she was outgoing and more popular, while I was the outcast and dark one. I liked dark things…horror…the supernatural, anything dark.

I looked up at Mia with slight shock and she just glared at me like I was a piece of trash. "Stupid bitch….." she muttered and then left the room.

I sniffled loudly and picked myself up from the floor, walking into the bathroom that was connected to my bedroom. I switched the light on and looked at my reflection in the mirror. There was a red mark where Mia had back-handed me on my pale skin. I wasn't surprised that everyone called me a freak….

What normal girl had bright red hair and deep, dark red eyes? I was born like this. My parents didn't know, the doctors didn't know. I had been teased constantly through life until high school got over with. Even at 19, I still looked far too younger than that…

I wasn't teased as much for my hair as I was for my eyes. There were lots of red-heads, but a red-head also having dark red eyes is INCREDIBLY unnatural, supernatural even.

I hated them.

I hated being born like this.

Why couldn't I have been normal….?

I sighed softly to myself and decided to go explore the town. It was a small town, with flocks of sheep, ducks and chickens, farm like. I heard snorting and neighing and came across a very large stable with many horses.

"You with the new family?" a male voice asked and I turned around to see a teenager around 17-18 years old. He was a little taller than me and had golden brown hair that was swept over one eye and eyes of the same color. He looked friendly.

"Yeah…I'm the oldest daughter." I replied. "19, I'll be 20 in August."

"You look younger than 19, no offense." The teenager grinned a bit and I just shrugged. "Anyway, I'm Rufus Davis." He held out a hand to me.

"Shell Hartford." I took his hand and we shook. After parting, he explained to me that nearly everyone in Sleepy Hollow had a horse and there weren't that many people.

"I have just the right horse for you." Rufus grinned and he went to the left of the stable and opened one of the stalls, bringing out a pure black horse and leading him over to me. "His name's Adrian, four years old and quite a friendly one."

I cautiously laid my hand on Adrian's snout and he whinnied softly, nudging his nose against my hand. I smiled a little. "He's beautiful and perfect."

"I'd thought you'd like him. You wanna take him for a little ride?" Rufus asked me.

I nodded and Rufus saddled Adrian up and I was able to get on with slight difficulty. I haven't been on a horse in a long time. "Ride him around town, get a feel for it and come back once you're done."

I nodded and with a cluck of my tongue, Adrian began walking. The town was depressing….so depressing it made me feel depressed. I sighed and took a turn into the woods along a small path. Even the woods were depressing….

I could see my breath as I exhaled in the air. New York always had very cold winters. I zipped up my trench coat more up to my chin and fixed my beanie on my head. I held the reins in my gloved hands and that's when Adrian nickered.

"Hmm? What's that boy?" I leaned over and rubbed his neck affectionately. He nickered again and turned his head a bit, his eyes soft and gentle. I smiled a bit and kissed his neck. "Yeah, you're a good boy."

We continued on a bit more and realized we were a bit too far from the town. Adrian's ears were suddenly pricked forwards and stiff, like he had sensed or seen something. "Whatdya see boy?"

All of a sudden, a girl on a horse came out of the woods startling both Adrian and I. "Oh! Didn't mean to startle you!" the girl laughed, calming her horse down. She looked around the same age as Rufus and had short brown hair and light green eyes and was pretty for a teenager.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "It's alright."

"I'm Amanda Brown."

We introduced ourselves and took a slow trot back into town. "So you're all the way from Indiana? Jeez, that's a long way."

"Yeah." I nodded.

"What did you guys move for?"

"Business." I lied.

"Wow, that sucks. I've lived in Sleepy Hollow my whole life. Nice town, friendly people." Amanda spoke. "And the home of a very famous legend."

That perked my interest. "Legend? In a small town like this?"

Amanda smirked. "Have you ever heard of the Headless Horseman?"

_Headless Horseman….Hessian Horseman..? _"Was he also called the Hessian Horseman?" she nodded. "I've heard about him a little."

Amanda went on to tell me about the infamous Hessian Horseman, who had a love for carnage and came to America, chopping off heads as he went. They said that in the winter of 1779, the Hessian was caught and had his head chopped off by his own sword and buried near a large tree in the Western Woods.

And its 2013….so…it's been over 200 years since then.

"And then," Amanda continued. "In 1799, there were murders and a man named Ichabod Crane came to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the murders, to find out that the Hessian came back from the grave, chopping off heads. But Ichabod learned that a woman named Lady Van Tassel had the Hessian's skull and was controlling him, using him to get her revenge on the townsfolk of Sleepy Hollow. So Ichabod managed to get the Hessian's skull and gave it back to him, not headless anymore and then he went back into the Tree of the Dead."

"And that's it? He hasn't been seen since then?"

"Nope!" Amanda grinned. "But everyone says it's just a legend. Pfft!" she scoffed. "I've always believed it was real."

I glanced over to the side as we came out of the Western Woods. We put our horses back in the stalls and then I headed on to my house.

"Where have you been?" my mother questioned me as I walked into the house, shutting the door behind me.

"Exploring." I replied plainly.

"Next time make sure we know."

"Yes mom." I replied quietly and then went upstairs to my room.

The story of the Hessian Horseman was still fresh in my mind when I went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Undead Love**

_**Chapter 2**_

I woke up the next morning with a dull ache in my back, from sleeping on it wrong. I had fallen asleep listening to my music, trying to get the story of the Hessian Horseman out of my mind. Unfortuanally it didn't work.

Not that I didn't mind thinking about the legendary Headless Horseman, but…ugh, I need to eat.

I turned my music off and left my MP3 player on my bed as I yawned and walked downstairs for breakfast. It was around ten and I was the only one up. I ate some cereal and then took a quick shower, getting dressed in a pair of warm black skinny jeans, a red and black plaid buttoned up shirt and boots.

I put on my warm trench coat and a scarf around my neck, then wrote a quick note and put it on the fridge before leaving.

I wanted to see this….Tree of the Dead.

I walked to the stable and saddled up Adrian before mounting him and then riding off into the Western Woods. It was colder out than normal, being early in the morning. Adrian trotted through a dirt path, his hoofs making soft thudding sounds on the frozen ground.

We went slightly deeper into the woods and I realized that there were no birds singing, no frogs croaking…absolutely nothing. I was now wondering if these woods were haunted. Amanda didn't say anything about the woods being haunted or anything.

I shrugged off the thought and clucked my tongue, urging Adrian to speed up his pace. He sped up his pace a little bit and about ten minutes later, we reached a clearing in the forest and had this ugly and huge tree right in the middle.

_The Tree of the Dead…._

I stepped off Adrian and tied his reins to a nearby branch. I approached the tree, seeing how ominous it looked. I climbed up the tree to the back of it and was a bit stunned to see a grave-type area with a sword impaled into the earth.

The hilt of the sword had an open-mouthed serpent on it with red eyes…the same color as mine. I reached towards the sword and brushed my fingers over the top, nearly wincing at how cold it felt. I rubbed my gloved hands together and leaned against the tree.

All of a sudden, the sky became darker from the dark clouds that rolled in and thunder rolled in the sky and lightning flashed from the clouds. "Fuck…." I whispered and jumped off the small cliff of dirt and rock and rushed towards Adrian.

I untangled his reins from the branch and quickly got on his back as he whinnied and neighed. I turned him around and my dark red eyes widened a little as a small hole-like area in the tree began to gurgle and move, like something was getting ready to come out of it.

Adrian suddenly reared up, neighing loudly and kicking his front legs. "Adrian-WHOA!" I yelped as my hands slipped out of the reins and I fell off his back and onto the ground, hitting my head hard on the ground. "Agh…." I groaned. "Adrian!" I called out for my horse and was left alone as it ran off.

"Shit….." I cursed and felt the back of my head, wincing and then brought back my hand to see blood. "Shit…that's not good." I carefully pulled myself into a sitting position, careful of my head.

My eyes widened more when I saw the roots on the tree begin to expand and with a loud, roaring neigh, a deep black horse and its rider came shooting out of the tree. My mouth opened in a silent gasp, as no sound could come out of my mouth.

The rider turned to me, gripping his horse's reins in one leather-gloved hand and the other at his side. Wild raven hair covered his head, extremely pale skin contrasted with the outfit he wore, part of it being armor and a long cape. The thing that got me the most were his eyes; unnatural, bright blue orbs stared into my own dark red ones.

It then all clicked together.

Tree of the Dead….plus horse and rider equals…..

_Oh fucking shit…._

It was the Hessian Horseman!

I scrambled to get up, slight fear coursing through my body and called out my horse's name when I ran back into the forest. "Adrian!" I called for my horse. "Adrian, where are you?!"

I heard a neigh, but I couldn't figure out if it was my horse or the Hessian's black steed. I suddenly saw a black horse trotting up to me and my face broke out into a smile. "Adrian!" I immediately grabbed his reins. "You scared me boy! You ran off!"

Adrian nickered softly and nudged his muzzle against my cheek. I chuckled quietly. "I know, I forgive you. Come on, let's get out of here."

I got on Adrian's back and left the Western Woods as quickly as I could, hurrying back to the stable and putting Adrian in his stall. My heart was still pounding in my chest and I tried not to hyperventilate.

_I can't believe it…..I can't believe I saw THE Hessian Horseman come out of a DAMN tree! Maybe I shouldn't have touched his sword…_I thought.

"Good afternoon ma'am."

I screamed, jumping five feet in the air and whirled around, getting in a fighting stance to fight down whoever startled me. I calmed down when I saw the 13-14 year old boy in front of me. "Jesus Christ!" I whispered, putting a hand to my heart. "You scared me!"

"It was not my intention to scare you ma'am." The boy apologized. "But I couldn't help but realize I have not seen you before."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm new. My family and I just moved here yesterday." I replied. "I'm Shell."

"My name is Jonathan Masbeth. I was named after my great, great, great…..uh, well one of my very old grandfathers." The boy replied with a sheepish smile.

I chuckled a little. "Pleased to meet you Jonathan."

"Why did you come out of the Western Woods so quickly Shell?" Jonathan asked me.

"Oh….nothing. It's a little creepy in there…" _Yeah, like anyone is gonna believe me if I told them I saw the Hessian Horseman…_

"The Western Woods are known to be haunted ma'am." Jonathan spoke. "Especially by the Hessian Horseman."

"Yeah, I was told of him yesterday. Quite an interesting fella ain't he?"

Jonathan shrugged and then his mother called for him, so he left to help his mother. I learned he went to the junior/high school near the edge of town. I glanced at my cell phone. Good god, it was already noon! Was I really out in the woods for two hours? It sure didn't seem like it.

The rest of the day I didn't do much but stay in my room and work on my stories. I was a beginning author and already completed many short stories and a novel. We were eating dinner when Mia spoke up.

"How come the freak gets a horse? I want one."

I tightened my grip on my fork, anger beginning to boil within me. It wasn't tears this time, it was anger. I was getting sick and tired of her calling me that.

"Mia, don't talk about your sister that way." Mom scolded. "Your sister gets a horse because she has more experience."

Mia just glared at me with a fiery passion in her eyes. "I'm surprised nobody has run away from you and your demon eyes. You're an outcast in society Shell. Nobody likes you."

"Mia!" Mom and dad yelled at her, but it was too late.

In an angry and blinded rage, I lunged across the table and knocked Mia to the floor, where I proceeded to punch the shit out of her. "Do you have any FUCKING idea what it's like to not have friends?! To be an outcast because of your eyes?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS LIKE YOU FUCKING BITCH?!"

Mia snarled and flipped us over, throwing her fists and hitting me wherever she could. I flipped us back over and wrapped my hands around her throat, strangling her. A small smile came to my face as I watched and heard her gag and wheeze for air.

Then, a searing pain shot right through my left hand.

I screamed out in pain and fell off her, glancing at my left hand and seeing she stabbed right through my hand with a fork. Small streams of blood trickled down my hand and I grabbed it and yanked it out, yelling out.

My mom came towards me and when she touched my shoulder, I jerked away violently. "Don't touch me!" I yelled at her angrily and then ran upstairs as fast as I could.

I slammed my door shut once I was in my room and quickly put warm clothes on. I then snuck out through my balcony door and dropped to the ground softly, running for the stable. I quickly got Adrian out and saddled him up before mounting him and taking off into the Western Woods.

Tears were trickling down my face, though I didn't know until I felt a few drops hit my wounded hand, mixing with the blood. I slowed Adrian down to a trot and buried my face in his mane, sobbing.

Why did she hate me so much? Why?! All my life I've been picked on for my appearance. I'd rather die than live this way.

Adrian continued to trot down a different path in the woods and I sniffled as it began to snow. It piled up on my head and shoulders and I lifted my head up as we reached a small lake that was frozen over.

I must've been pretty far away from Sleepy Hollow…

I stared at the lake, wondering how cold the water was…..

I sniffled and ignoring the pain in my bleeding hand, I got off Adrian and tied his reins to a nearby tree. I sniffed and rubbed his neck. "You're such a good boy Adrian….such a good boy…."

Adrian nickered softly and nuzzled his head against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged his neck tightly for a few long moments before I kissed his neck and then let him go. "You'll find someone better than me…someone who isn't a freak…" I kissed his nose. "Goodbye Adrian."

I then walked away from him and onto the frozen lake. My footprints could be seen on the ice in the snow. Stray tears fell down my cheeks as I got further into the lake.

Then I realized what I was doing.

How stupid am I?!

I was about to turn around when I heard something that made my heart skip a beat. The ice underneath me began to crack. I panicked and whirled around, aiming to run back to solid ground, but my foot slipped out from underneath me and I fell, the ice breaking underneath my weight and I fell into the freezing waters of the lake.

The water bit and stung at my bare skin painfully and I flailed my arms, kicked my legs as I tried to swim back to the surface. But as seconds went by, my limbs began to go numb and once they did, I finally allowed myself to sink. I saw the hole above me, the light penetrating the darkness. I couldn't find the strength to live anymore….

The hurtful words echoed in my mind. Whoever said words didn't hurt was wrong as HELL. I let a muffled sigh escape from my mouth and I closed my eyes.

All of a sudden, I faintly felt what felt like fingers wrap around my wrist and tug on my arm, and then pulled at my numb limb and the cold breeze of the frigid air hit my skin. My clothes stuck to my skin, freezing and I shivered and trembled violently. I was pulled against something, it felt hard and solid and something like cloth was wrapped around me.

I opened my eyes just a crack and all I saw a big, black blur.

But before I completely blacked out, I did see a pair of bright blue eyes.


End file.
